Avoid Cold After Massage: Why Wind and Dampness Matter

During massage, it is often necessary to advise patients who have been severely invaded by pathogenic wind, cold, and dampness, or patients who have just undergone treatments such as fumigation, sauna, or electrothermal physiotherapy devices, to avoid exposure to wind and cold or to refrain from using cold water. When the human body maintains an appropriate temperature of 36°C to 38°C, the blood in the blood vessels can flow normally. If exposed to a high-temperature and high-pressure environment, blood vessels can continuously dilate, leading to erratic blood flow or vascular rupture and bleeding. Conversely, when affected by cold wind, cold water, cold air, or sudden low temperatures, blood vessels in the body will rapidly constrict, resulting in slow blood flow or blockage within the vessels, causing pain or severe pain. This is because blood has the properties of “flows when heated and congeals when chilled” as well as “expands when heated and contracts when cooled.”

Therefore, for patients suffering from wellness caused by pathogenic wind, cold, and dampness, the main supports principles of massage therapy are warming the meridians and unblocking the channels, dispersing cold and eliminating dampness, promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, and moving qi to helps with occasional pain. This helps dilate blood vessels and accelerate blood flow, thereby achieving the goals of dredging the meridians and unblocking the channels, dispelling wind and dispersing cold, and eliminating dampness to helps with occasional pain. It should be noted that after massage, such patients should avoid being exposed to cold or cold stimuli again; otherwise, it would be like pLunging a red-hot iron into cold water, eliminating all the warmth.